Kapono Beamer
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Award-winning musician Kapono Beamer says he felt a strong presence of his grandmother as he created his newest CD, Kapono Beamer - Slack Key Dreams of the Ponomoe
“It’s the kind of sleep that makes things right and makes you feel refreshed and uplifted,” says Beamer, who graced MidWeek‘s cover in April 1996.
He used recordings of his grandmother Louise Leiomalama Walker Beamer’s voice on two tracks of the CD, in a Hawaiian chant titled Manono. Throughout the creation of this CD, he says, “It’s like I was being guided and directed. It was a really nurturing feeling of trust your own instincts. Don’t have doubts. It was powerful, loving and nurturing.”
For example, he was sitting with his guitar, and falling in love in the rain in Nuuanu. Then he took a Hawaiian dictionary, and closed his eyes, and pointed his finger to a page. When he opened his eyes, his fingers were on a Hawaiian phrase which means famous rains in the middle of Nuuanu Valley. “That was really chickenskin. A warmth came over me, and I hoped I can write as a beautiful song as these words.”
Photos of Beamer and scenic Hawaii on the music album were taken by his wife, Castle grad Dayna Marie (Dias), whom he married last year. The CD is from his own record company, Kapono Beamer Enterprises, through which he’s been strategizing the production of other artists. He recently worked on Kealii Reichel’s CD, Ke’alaokamaile
Following in his father’s footsteps, Beamer’s son Kamana is also playing music with his own band, Kamau, on Friday nights at the awa bar Hale Noa in Kapahulu while pursuing his Ph.D. at University of Hawaii.
Beamer’s passport is worn with stamps following his opportunities to record a guitar album in Munich, Germany, and to record in Budapest, Hungary, with members of its symphony, and he’s also traveled to Prague, Czechoslovakia.
His original music, which is sometimes labeled as melodic guitar or romantic guitar ballads, has been played on numerous national shows and movies including Oprah, Days of Our Lives, even SpongeBob SquarePants. He’s also in the process of recording another CD for European release.
When he’s not consumed with his music, Beamer enjoys going to the beach on the Windward side, reading and relaxing.
“It’s wonderful to be able to live in Hawaii and see all the beauty - I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” he says.
For more information, log onto www.kapono.com
- Linda Dela Cruz
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